Archive for January, 2014

Now that the state Board of Education has adopted emergency regulations and a template to help guide school districts in creating plans for spending their money, parents throughout the state should be hearing about community meetings asking for their opinions.

The Mt. Diablo and West Contra Costa districts started holding meetings in January to explain the state’s requirements for the plans, which must focus on eight priorities.

Nellie Meyer, Superintendent of the Mt. Diablo school district, told parents during a Tuesday meeting at Ygnacio Valley High that the priorities fall into three basic categories: conditions of learning, student outcomes and engagement.

Conditions of learning include: proper teacher assignments and student access to instructional materials; implementation of the state’s new Common Core standards; and student access to a variety of courses.

Student outcomes are: pupil achievement and other measures of student success, such as reclassification of English learners as fluent.

Engagement includes: parental involvement, student engagement, and school climate indicators such as suspension and expulsion rates.

Based on these priorities, districts must decide how to divide their money in ways that will best serve their students. The money includes base grants that can be spent on districtwide needs, along with supplemental grants intended to help narrow the achievement gap for students who are English learners, low-income or foster youth.

Districts with more than 55 percent of students in these categories receive concentration grants for their additional disadvantaged students.

Mt. Diablo does not qualify for a concentration grant because its percentage of disadvantaged students is not high enough, Meyer said. However, she said some schools have a much higher percentage of disadvantaged students.

“In my humble opinion, the formula is flawed,” she said. “It should be by school.”

Parents at the meeting broke into three groups and offered suggestions for improvement in each of the three basic categories, such as ensuring high-quality staff, providing parents with more information about students’ progress and inviting families to fun activities on campus such as potlucks.

Meyer gave a similar presentation about the spending plan Wednesday to the school board. But some public speakers said the presentation included too much hard-to-understand education lingo, while leaving out information about how much money the district is receiving in base and supplemental grants.

Resident Willie Mims said the district needs to ensure that supplemental funding will help the students for whom it is intended.

The Mt. Diablo district will hold more meetings before finalizing its plan in June. Community meetings are at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Ygnacio Valley High in Concord, at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20 at Diablo View Middle School in Clayton, at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at Northgate High in Walnut Creek, at 6:30 p.m. March 18 at Concord High, and at 6:30 p.m. April 8 at Mt. Diablo High.

The West Contra Costa district held four community meetings in January and plans to establish a special committee comprised of parent representatives that will vote on its plan. The district has posted notes from its meetings online, including suggestions for programs or services that could help disadvantaged students.

Suggestions from El Cerrito High meeting participants included: better promotion of district resources, hiring certificated teachers for after-school programs, hiring writer coaches, reintroducing music and art, lowering class sizes at all grade levels, creating newcomer programs at schools, offering full-day kindergarten and early intervention preschool programs, eliminating classes with split grade levels, providing more alternatives to suspensions, offering writing support to English learners and additional reading and writing programs for all students, year-round schools, and more counselors.

How do you think districts should spend money earmarked for disadvantaged students?

The Mt. Diablo school board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the district office at 1936 Carlotta Drive in Concord. Here is the agenda:

“1.0 Call to Order
1.1 President will call the meeting to order Info
2.0 Announcements
2.1 In closed session, the Board will consider the items listed on the closed session agenda. Info

3.0 Public Comment
3.1 The public may address the Board concerning items that are scheduled for discussion during closed session only. These presentations are limited to three minutes each, or a total of thirty minutes for all speakers or the three minute limit may be shortened. Speakers are not allowed to yield their time. Info

8.0 Report Out Action Taken in Closed Session
8.1 Negotiations Info/Action
8.2 Action on readmission of student #03-11 into the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Action
8.3 Action on readmission of student #24-12 into the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Action
8.4 Action on readmission of student #A-14 into the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Action
8.5 Action on readmission of student #B-14 into the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Action
8.6 Action on readmission of student #17-13 into the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Action

12.2 Minutes of the Board of Education Meeting of January 15, 2014 Info/Action

12.3 Board Committee Assignments Info/Action

13.0 Consent Agenda Action
13.1 (Item #1) Items listed under Consent Agenda are considered routine and will be approved/adopted by a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items; however, any item may be removed from the consent agenda upon the request of any member of the Board and acted upon separately. Action
13.2 (Item #2) Recommended Action for Certificated Personnel Action
13.3 (Item #3) Recommended Action for Classified Personnel Action
13.4 (Item #4) Classified Personnel: Request to Increase Positions Action
13.5 (Item #5) Request to Increase Full Time Equivalent (FTE) for the 2013-2014 School Year Action
13.6 (Item #6) Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA)Induction Program Support to Private School Teachers Action
13.7 (Item #7) Approve increase to independent service contract with Kristin Obrinsky, Physical Therapist Action
13.8 (Item #8) Approve contract increase with Independent Contractor Dr. Sherry Burke, School Psychologist Action
13.9 (Item #9) Increase purchase order with Speech Pathology Group. Action
13.10 (Item #10) Adjustments to Non-Public Agency (NPA) Contracts Action
13.11 (Item #11) Approval of Non-Public School (NPS) Adjustments Action
13.12 (Item #12) Request for increase in funding of a previously approved contract and purchase order with My Therapy Company. Action
13.13 (Item #13) Approval of Independent Service Contract with St. Vincent’s School for Boys, Catholic Charities CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) Action
13.14 (Item #14) Independent Services Contract for Concord High School and Events to the “T” Inc. Action
13.15 (Item #15) Approval of Extension of 2012-2013 Single Plans for Student Achievement (SPSA) through May 2014 Action
13.16 (Item #16) Request for Replacement of Outdated Warrant Action

14.0 Consent Items Pulled for Discussion
15.0 Public Comment
15.1 The public may address the Board regarding any item within the jurisdiction of the Board of Education of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District that is not on this agenda. These presentation are limited to three minutes each, or a total of thirty minutes for all speakers, or the three minute limit may be shortened. If there are multiple speakers on any one subject, the public comment period may be moved to the end of the meeting. Speakers are not allowed to yield their time. Info

16.0 Communications
16.1 District Organizations – At regular Board meetings, a single spokesperson of each recognized district organization may make a brief presentation following the Consent Agenda. Items are limited to those which are informational. Info

17.0 Business/Action Item

17.1 Change Interim Appointments to Regular Permanent Status Action

17.2 Request approval for submission by Mt. Diablo Adult Education of an application for Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA): Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Title II, Section 231 and the English Literacy and Civics Education (EL Civics) supplemental funding for 2014-2015. Action

If your child plans to attend to college in the fall, now is the time to start working on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, to determine eligibility for grants, scholarships and loans.

The California Student Aid Commission is offering workshops throughout the state to help high school seniors and their families learn how to qualify for college financial aid and fill out the online forms by the state’s March 2 deadline.

Such meetings are coming up from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25 in the Antioch High library, 700 W. 18th St. in Antioch; from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 25 in the library and computer labs at Mt. Diablo High, 2450 Grant St. in Concord; and from 5 to 8 p.m. Feb. 3 in the Deer Valley High theater at 4700 Lone Tree Way in Antioch. I attended a similar meeting earlier this month at Ygnacio Valley High in Concord, where parents and students received a brochure entitled “Funding your college future,” along with a “FAFSA on the Web Worksheet” and information about the California Dream Act Application for undocumented students.

More information about these workshops and FAFSA resources is available by visiting www.calgrants.org. “Click on Cash for College.”

The brochure highlighted Cal Grants and Middle Class Scholarships, which are available to students whose families earn up to $150,000 a year. The Cal Grant program guarantees financial assistance based on need to every qualified student who applies, according to the brochure distributed by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord. Similar information is being disseminated by assembly members in other districts statewide.

The new Middle Class Scholarship is being phased in starting this year to help students who do not qualify for Cal Grants because their family income is too high. It is expected to reduce student fees and tuition at University of California and California State University campuses by up to 40 percent, after it is fully implemented.

Last year, the West Contra Costa school district helped boost college attendance for its graduates by partnering with the Ed Fund on a FAFSA campaign to ensure that students had the opportunity to complete the FAFSA or the California Dream Application. The West Contra Costa school board will receive a report on this campaign during its Wednesday meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at Lovonya DeJean Middle School at 3400 MacDonald Ave. in Richmond.

“As indicated through national studies, paying for college is the number one barrier keeping kids out of college,” the staff report states. “Recent studies indicate that increasing the FAFSA completion also results in increased college-going rates for districts.”

Only 33 percent of West Contra Costa students completed the FAFSA by the March 2 in 2012, before the districtwide campaign began. The following year, 56 percent of seniors completed the FAFSA, which was a 23 percent gain, according to the report.

To help streamline the application process, the district also uploaded grade-point average data for every eligible senior directly to the California Student Aid Commission. These efforts resulted in 596 seniors from the district receiving Cal Grants, or an estimated $3 million in state aid during their first year of college, the district reports.

All told, the campaign made more than $20 million in state and federal aid available to students to help fund tuition and fees. This translates into more money that their families were able to invest in the local economy, according to the staff report.

This year, the district has set a goal of a 70 percent FAFSA completion rate by March 2.

“We know that the increase in financial aid received by WCCUSD students enables more students to afford to go to college and dramatically increases their likelihood of graduating from college,” the staff report says.

The Ed Fund recognized the work of the College Access Foundation of California for supporting the College Access Initiative, along with partners in the West County College Access Network, including the West Contra Costa school district.

“They are to be commended and held high for their singular focus on college access and success for all district students,” according to the staff report.

The Ed Fund plans to ask the school board to institutionalize the completion of financial aid applications for all district students and to declare January “Financial Aid Awareness Month.”

What steps do you think districts should take to increase their FAFSA completion rates for college-bound seniors?

The public is invited to watch teams from 24 Bay Area schools — including nine from Contra Costa County — compete in a free regional Science Bowl competition on Saturday at Las Postas College in Livermore. Winners will advance to the National Science Bowl in April in Washington, D.C.

Below is a list of the teams that have signed up to participate (including some who are on the waiting list). Those from Contra Costa County include: Acalanes, California, Campolindo, Dougherty Valley, Las Lomas, Miramonte, Monte Vista, Mt. Diablo and Northgate high schools.

When Gov. Jerry Brown popped in on the state Board of Education meeting Thursday, the public speaker at the microphone said: “I’ve never been more perfectly interrupted.”

Brown showed up to rally those on both sides of a debate over funding regulations around the idea that no matter who would win small victories in language that will guide school districts in spending new money — the real winners will be the students. He reminded the board that the Local Control Funding Formula they were discussing was based on the principle of subsidiarity, or “focusing authority where it can be most effectively exercised … at the lowest, most competent level.”

The family, he said, is the primary institution in society. From there, Brown said, authority goes up to a parish, a city, a school and to other agencies.

“I think we always have to keep in mind when we sit around here, we’re not omnipotent,” he said. “A little humility is in order.”
Brown said regulations created by the board don’t really matter much when a teacher shuts a classroom door and works directly with students.

“And if the parents aren’t doing the right thing, if the teacher’s not doing the right thing, if the principal’s not doing the right thing, if the superintendent at the local school district isn’t doing the right thing and if the elected school board members are insensitive, then it’s highly dubious to think that the people around this table are going to be able to make up for it,” he said. “At the end of the day, we do depend on families, teachers, principals and people spread out throughout the entire state who have responsibility for our 6 million students.”

While acknowledging that the regulations and guidelines to be approved were important, Brown said they should not be “prescriptive commands from headquarters.” Instead, he urged flexibility to allow for different perspectives, with the overall goal of improving student achievement, directing more money to schools with greater challenges and establishing a mechanism for accountability. However, he cautioned that accountability is most effective at the local level.

“The further you get from the classroom,” he said, “the less effective your instruction, your conversation or your command.”

Drawing applause, Brown praised school leaders, education advocates and the California Teachers Association for helping to pass Proposition 30, which he said made the debate over funding regulations possible.

“If we didn’t have the money,” he said, “we wouldn’t even be here fighting over the regulations.”

Brown also received a few chuckles, when he added: “This is not the New Testament. It’s not the law in the prophets. This is just some mundane regulations that are much better because of the participation of the equity groups and others.”

Calling this “a great opportunity to fashion a more effective learning environment,” Brown said he didn’t want to lose sight of the students.

“They have responsibility as well,” he said. “It isn’t like just pouring this noun called ‘education’ into the heads of students. It’s an intransitive verb: I learn. And the ‘I’ that can learn is the student. The teacher can facilitate. The teacher lights the fire. The superintendent, the (local) board, the politicians, the state board here — we create environments, (and) some incentives. But we don’t want to micromanage. We want to give a wide latitude to teach and to explore and to light that fire in every student. And to the extent that teaching becomes a menu and a recipe, we lose that.”

Brown closed by asking the board to simultaneously embrace imagination and rigor.

“If you only have imagination, you have chaos and insanity,” he said. “If you only have rigor, you have paralytic death and rigor mortis. But if you combine rigor and imagination — if you combine flexibility with guidelines and some reasonable accountability — we’ll get the job done. So good luck. And I’m very excited. I’m bullish on California schools.”

Hours later, the board approved the emergency funding regulations, allowing the flexibility that many districts lobbied for, while trusting local officials to do the right thing for their students.

‘I thank parents, students, teachers, school district personnel, board members and advocates for their continued interest in improving California’s schools,’ said Michael W. Kirst, President of the State Board of Education. ‘I applaud Governor Brown and the Legislature for their commitment to improving K-12 education for California’s six million students. This is a historic change.’

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. also appeared at the State Board meeting during public testimony and took a few moments to address members of the State Board and audience members. ‘We have a great opportunity in our state to fashion a more effective learning environment,” said Governor Brown. “I’m bullish on California education.’

The regulations approved today will guide school districts spending – targeted at low-income, English learner, and foster youth – as education funding increases throughout the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula. School districts will also be required to produce Local Control and Accountability Plans, illustrating how increased resources are tied to meeting student needs.

The Local Control Funding Formula replaced California’s overly complex finance system for K-12 schools. Districts have already started to receive funding based upon the number of students they serve, including the numbers of English learners, students from low-income families and foster youth. In tandem, the Local Control Funding Formula and the Local Control and Accountability Plans increase local decision making authority while also enhancing transparency and accountability.

The State Board of Education is the governing and policy-making body for public K-12 education in California. The President of the Board is Michael W. Kirst. Board members are appointed for four-year terms by the Governor of California and are confirmed by the State Senate. For more information, please visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/

The Mt. Diablo school board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the district office at 1936 Carlotta Drive in Concord. Here is the agenda, which includes a report on disproportionality, a resolution regarding the interim general counsel and other appointments:

“1.0 Call to Order
1.1 President will call the meeting to order Info

2.0 Announcements

2.1 In closed session, the Board will consider the items listed on the closed session agenda. Info
3.0 Public Comment

3.1 The public may address the Board concerning items that are scheduled for discussion during closed session only. These presentations are limited to three minutes each, or a total of thirty minutes for all speakers or the three minute limit may be shortened. Speakers are not allowed to yield their time. Info

11.0 Consent Agenda Action
11.1 (Item #1) Items listed under Consent Agenda are considered routine and will be approved/adopted by a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items; however, any item may be removed from the consent agenda upon the request of any member of the Board and acted upon separately. Action
11.2 (Item #2) Recommended Action for Certificated Personnel Action
11.3 (Item #3) Recommended Action for Classified Personnel Action
11.4 (Item #4) Classified Personnel: Request to Increase Positions Action
11.5 (Item #5) Request to Increase and Decrease Full Time Equivalent (FTE) for the 2013-2014 School Year Action
11.6 (Item #6) Fiscal Transactions for the month of December 2013 Action
11.7 (Item #7) Approve contracts with Kevin Clark Consulting and Training for coaching services provided at Rio Vista Elementary. Action
11.8 (Item #8) Approval of contracts with Camp SEA Lab for Ayers Elementary School and Westwood Elementary School Outdoor Ed Programs Action
11.9 (Item #9) Approval of contracts with Exploring New Horizons (ENH) for Silverwood Elementary School and Woodside Elementary School Outdoor Ed Program Action
11.10 (Item #10) Approval of contracts with the YMCA at Camp Arroyo for Meadow Homes Elementary and Rio Vista Elementary Outdoor Ed Programs Action
11.11 (Item #11) Independent Services Contracts for The Event Group, Inc. and Northgate High School Action
11.12 (Item #12) Increase contract with Document Tracking Services (DTS) to include Spanish translation of Single Plan for Student Achievement for Ygnacio Valley High School. Action
11.13 (Item #13) Adoption of Abriendo Paso (Pearson Publishers) and Azulejo (Wayside Publishers)for AP Spanish & Temas (Vista Higher Learning Publishers) for Honors Spanish Textbooks Action
11.14 (Item #14) Approve submission of the After School Education and Safety Renewal Grant for fourteen elementary and middle schools and a new ASES grant for Westwood Elementary School. Action
11.15 (Item #15) Request to increase Purchase order for VeCare Health Services Action
11.16 (Item #16) Request to increase Purchase Order #87733-14 to Sabah International Inc. Action
11.17 (Item #17) Notice of Completion Bid #1638: Weight Equipment Procurement at CVCHS Action

12.0 Consent Items Pulled for Discussion

13.0 Recognitions

14.0 Public Comment
14.1 The public may address the Board regarding any item within the jurisdiction of the Board of Education of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District that is not on this agenda. These presentation are limited to three minutes each, or a total of thirty minutes for all speakers, or the three minute limit may be shortened. If there are multiple speakers on any one subject, the public comment period may be moved to the end of the meeting. Speakers are not allowed to yield their time. Info

15.0 Communications
15.1 District Organizations – At regular Board meetings, a single spokesperson of each recognized district organization may make a brief presentation following the Consent Agenda. Items are limited to those which are informational. Info

School officials around the state will be spending the next several days reading through Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed 2014-15 budget to see how it will directly affect them. For those that have a high percentage of low-income students and English learners, the new funding formula that gives them a greater share of the money is good news.

The West Contra Costa school district based in Richmond, along with the Oakland school district in Alameda County, are both looking forward to receiving additional funding expected to help them narrow the achievement gap.

Charles Ramsey, president of the West Contra Costa school board, said the money for low-income students and English language learners will make a big difference.

“There’s going to be a huge proportion of resources dedicated to assisting them,” he said. “It’s going to be a quantum change in funding for our district. We’re going to see a doubling of funding for those students over time.”

In the next couple of years, Ramsey said funding is expected to increase to $10,600 or $10,700 per student, with an additional $104 million total expected by 2021, after the funding formula is fully implemented.

The West Contra Costa school board has already decided to spend some of its new money on school resource officers, reducing class size in Transitional Kindergarten through third grade and creating “full service community schools” that include health centers. Ramsey said trustees are also considering allocating $1 million to $2 million more to athletics and setting aside additional funding for music and other programs that have been cut in the past.

“We want to be able to provide kids opportunities so they can learn,” he said. “We need to give more of our resources to the kids for the classroom. I give the governor a lot of credit to keep education at the forefront, because California has lagged.”

In addition, Ramsey said he would like to devote more funding to professional development to help teachers implement the new Common Core standards, along with the technology needed for testing. He was also pleased that the district has recently settled a contract agreement with teachers that included salary increases.

“We need to do more to really attract people to the industry and recruit and retain qualified teachers,” he said.

And Ramsey said the district is not shying away from its required accountability. The state Board of Education is fine-tuning guidelines that districts will be required to follow in developing plans for their spending.

“They want to see the kind of improvement we can have,” Ramsey said. “But, they’re not going to hold your feet to the fire right away. They’re going to give you a few years to show that it’s going to be successful.”

During the next month, the district is inviting community members to attend one of six meetings to get more information about state funding and discuss how it can be used to implement goals outlined in a recently-adopted strategic plan.

Troy Flint, spokesman for the Oakland school district, said Thursday that he hadn’t had a chance yet to look at the governor’s budget in detail, but he pointed out that Oakland has been a strong supporter of the funding shift that gives more money to districts with disadvantaged students.

“Nothing’s perfect, particularly when you have to satisfy different constituencies in a diverse state,” he said. “This is a huge step forward for equity and for public education. This is the first time in many years, if ever, that funding has actually been aligned with student needs and that the value of equity has been placed front and center, with redistributed funds.”

Flint predicted that this approach would end up benefiting the state as a whole because struggling students will get the resources and help they need to succeed in college and the workforce.

“We’re very pleased with the direction the governor has taken,” he said. “We think this budget is going to produce great results for our kids and for kids around the state.”

Retired De Anza HS teacher Karen Mason in Washington DC for President Obama’s inauguration with former student Anka Lee.

During the past two months, I have been working on a Hometown Hero story about Karen Mason, a retired English teacher who worked at De Anza High in Richmond for 35 years and touched the lives of hundreds of students, their families and the surrounding El Sobrante community. Mason died Dec. 31, after battling cancer.

Although I only met Mason twice, I was touched by her selfless concern for others. In November, I interviewed Mason in her El Sobrante home. I saw her again Dec. 2 at a West Contra Costa school board meeting, where she spoke out against bullying.

On both occasions, I was impressed by Mason’s warmth and ability to connect with people. Her story will appear Tuesday in this newspaper, including quotes from many who knew her.

Below are excerpts from our interview that I couldn’t fit into the story, which reveal Mason’s caring spirit and determination to do what was right for her students and the world.

ON OPENING HER HEART TO OTHERS:
“You get to ‘adopt’ all kinds of people in your life if you’re open to it. My husband and I shared a mutual feeling that there were kids who needed safe places to come. One of the greatest gifts you can give is to listen.”

ON INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION:
“I don’t go on Facebook. I want personal communication. I’ve never texted. I think if you want to talk, come on by.”

“The gift of communication — the gift of humanity — is exchanged when you really can look somebody in the eye and say something truthful.”

ON THE DEATH OF HER SON, REID:
“The saddest story that my husband and I have is 12 years ago, our son was killed in an auto accident. There’s no milestone day when you lose a child. Grief is for the rest of your life. We feel blessed we had our son for 25 years. We’ve talked to other parents who have lost children to say, ‘You can get through it. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be great days of pain, and lots of it.’”

ON A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
“I’ve led my life saying, ‘Be positive today. Get up and reach out to others and stay focused on what’s really, really the best thing for you and for everybody else.”

ADVICE TO NEW TEACHERS;
“I taught a classroom management course for student teachers. I would say, ‘If you love your subject matter more than your students, don’t teach. You’d better walk into that classroom and say, no matter what, I love those kids.’”

ON STANDING UP FOR STUDENTS:
“I used to get up in the morning and say, ‘What are you going to do today that’s going to be good for kids?’ And if grown-ups got in the way, ‘Oh, well.’”

ON BEING VIEWED AS A ‘MOM’ OR ‘GRANDMA’ BY OTHERS:
“I feel really privileged that people would let themselves be vulnerable. What humanity needs more than anything is to recognize that we’re pretty much born vulnerable and it’s okay to walk your path with others — reach out to others.”

ON RELATIONSHIPS WITH STUDENTS:
“I would say, ‘I know this is hard. You can’t pass if you give up on yourself. I can invest in you, but if you don’t invest in yourself, then what’s going to happen?’”

“You never get more pressure than when you’re a teenager because everybody thinks they know what’s best for you — your teachers, your parents, your siblings — and they’re going to tell you. So, spend a little time figuring it out yourself. That’s hard work.”

ON HER LEGACY:
“I like to think that maybe God’s gift was to be open. My mom cultivated plants. I said, ‘Maybe I have the ability to cultivate people.’”

“When the end of life comes, I hope my legacy is that people always felt and knew that they were loved and that they could trust me that I had integrity. I like to think that — having stayed in the same old duck pond — that some of my fellow ducks remember that.”

“I don’t have a bucket list. I just pretty much tried to do stuff that was important. I’m really at peace. I’m going to get to the other side of the clouds and the view will be just as fantastic.”